Xander Bogaerts, who went 2-for-5 with a solo homer inBoston's 7-6 comeback win over Toronto on Saturday, has established himself as one of the major's best shortstops this year after struggling both offensively and defensively last year.

He has 30 doubles and three triples. He has knocked in 73 runs. The only area that has been missing from his game this year has been his home run power. His blast Saturday was just his sixth.

His batting average is 81 points higher than his average last year. His OBP is up 55 points, his slugging percentage is up 57 points and his OPS is up 112 points.

Bogaerts has stroked 178 hits. He's on pace for 196 hits. So he has a chance at 200.

Jose Altuve (225 hits) and Michael Brantley (200 hits) were the only two major leaguers with 200 or more hits last year. Of course reaching that milestone would be no small feat.

Does Bogaerts have a chance at winning the American League batting title?

He has the second best batting average in the AL at the moment. But it will be difficult for him to do it because his .321 average is 18 points lower than the Miguel Cabrera's .339 mark.

Cabrera has won the batting title four of the past five years. But the Detroit Tigers star is struggling this month, batting .233 with a .338 on-base percentage, .283 slugging percentage and .621 OPS in 60 at-bats.

Bogaerts has played 31 more games than Cabrera -- but Cabrera still is qualified to win the title.

Here's a look at the AL batting title race:

Miguel Cabrera, Detroit, .339

Xander Bogaerts, Boston, .321

Michael Brantley, Cleveland, .315

Jose Altuve, Houston, .313

Nelson Cruz, Seattle, .309

Prince Fielder, Texas, .309

Lorenzo Cain, Kansas City, .306

Ian Kinsler, Detroit, .304

If Bogaerts overtakes Cabrera, he'd become the first Red Sox player to win the batting title since Bill Mueller in 2003.

Between Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez and Mueller, the Sox won four batting titles from 1999-2003 after not winning one since 1988 (Wade Boggs).